Rotary multicolor printing press



Dec. 5, 1950 A. s. HUCKINS 2,533,012

ROTARY MULTICOLOR PRINTING PRESS Filed May 50, 1945 INVENTOR.

\ BY I 7WIQMM ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIC E 2,533,012. ROTARY MULTIGOLOR PRINTING PRESS Arthur S. Huckins, Brooliline, Pa.

Application May 30, 1945, Serial No. 596,739

3 Claims. 1

The object of this invention is to devise a novel multicolor printing press, and more particularly athree color, rotary printing press.

There are two types of printing presses now on the market, one in which the feed is automatic, and the other in which hand feeding is employed. a

The automatically fed presses have the problem of taking asheet from a feed rack, and, depending on the cut of the paper, its moisture content and the shrinkage and curl resulting therefrom, it has been found very difiicult if not impossible to repeat feedings through the press and obtain accurate registry.

Hand feeding into a press eliminates in some respect the rhisregister of a mechanical feed, provided the sensitive touch of the operator is capable of repeated contacts with stop pins which are supposed to give positive register; but this is uncertain and has the problem of repeated: runs and weather conditions to upset properaregister.

These two methods require sorting out for matched work, and require repeated operations after periods of ink drying to prevent offset and blurs from handling.

Rotary presses have been used for two color work, but it has heretofore been deemed impossible to obtain a third matched color in this :type of press in one operation.

Web feeding can be used for large publications but not for shorter runs.

A further object of this invention is to feed the sheets mechanically on to one cylinder and receive the contact from three geared in, equal size, color cylinders, whereby three colors are applied in absolute register at a fraction of the cost of the methods heretofore employed, This use of three color cylinders is possible due to their being employed with an enclosed suction system as disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,775,677 for a Printing Machine.

With the foregoing and other objects in View as will hereinafter be clearly set forth, my invention comprehends a novel multicolor printing press wherein a plurality of color cylinders and their inking mechanisms are disposed around the blanket cylinder, all of the cylinders being of the same size.

It further comprehends a novel rotary press having three color cylinders arranged in a novel manner around an impression cylinder to apply three colors to a sheet in a single feeding operation.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a multicolor printing press embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a detail view.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings:

The construction and operation of the press as applied to a single color is'clearly set forth in my prior patent aforesaid; and since the three color cylinders are intergeared to revolve in unison, it has been deemed necessary to describe the construction and operation with only suificient detail for? a proper understanding of the construction and operation of the three color mechanism.

As in my prior patent, a sheet or blank is fed from apaper stack or pile I upwardly towards an impression cylinder 2, which is rotated by suitable means 3, which latter also operates a vacuum pump 4. The pump 4 communicated with a hollow shaft 5 by means of a connection 6 having aconventional valve control which disconnects the pump from a suction nozzle 1 at desired points in thecycle of rotation of the impression cylinder 2.

At the top of the-paper stack, a separator 8 acts to hold the pile of paper in place. As the impressioncylinder revolves, a shaft 9, to whichthe nozzle-is fixed,.is carried along without motion relative to the cylinder 2.. A. follower (not shown) as in myprior patent causes the suction nozzle to move towards and from the pile I. Just before the nozzle contacts with a sheet, valve apparatus is operated to apply suction to the nozzle to cause it to withdraw a sheet from underneath a separator 8 and carry it with it on its rearward motion. At this time, a picker I is lowered by a cam and maintains a separation of the sheet attracted by the nozzle from the remainder of the pile. The sheet lifted by the nozzle is gripped by a gripper I I against the arcuate portion of the impression cylinder.

During the rotation of the impression cylinder, the sheet blank is juxtaposed against three rotating color cylinders I2, I3 and I4, inked by conventional means schematically represented at I 5, I6 and I1, respectively. Upon further rotation of the impression cylinder, a stripper I8 removes the sheet from the impression cylinder and guides it into a rack I9.

The cylinders are all of the same size. The color cylinder I2 is mounted in the main frame of the press at one side of the vertical center line of the impression cylinder, and the color cylinders I3 and it are mounted in an auxiliary frame 20, hinged at its lower end to the main frame at 2| and latched in printing position with the main frame in any desired manner. It will thus be apparent that the auxiliary frame can be swung out of the way whenever desired to provide access to the working parts of the press.

The arrangement of equal size color cylinders around the impression cylinder eliminates misregister due to repeated runs through the press and shrinkage of sheets between runs. When used with an internal suction device, eliminating gripper transfer as used in other presses, a small, inexpensive and easily accessible machine is provided which will in one operation print three colors in absolute register.

As will be clear from Figure 2, a gear 2% on the shaft of the impression cylinder meshes with gears 23, 2 1 and 25 fixed with respect to the color cylinders l2, l3 and M, respectively.

In the present press, conventional construction for relative displacement of the impression cylinder and color cylinders in order to prevent offset due to misfeed would be employed.

My present invention has two distinct advantages in the art of printing. It insures perfect register against all odds. the cost of three color work by printing the three colors in one operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a multicolor, rotary, printing press, an impression cylinder having internal suction means and gripping means to retain independently fed sheets thereon, and having a gear on its shaft, a paper stack from which sheets are transierred from a stand still position by the suction means to the impression cylinder, three color cylinders of the same size as the impression cylinder and their inking mechanism disposed around said impression cylinder and each having a gear meshing directly with the gear of the impression cylinder, a stripper to remove printed sheets from the impression cylinder, one of said color cylinders being located in proximity to and above the paper stack offcenter of the impression cylinder and the other two color cylinders being located at the stripper side of the impression cylinder, a rack to which the sheets are guided by said stripper, and means to occasion the cyclical operation of said cylinders and suction means.

It greatly decreases 2. In a multicolor, rotary, printing press, an impression cylinder having internal suction means and having gripping means to retain an independently fed sheet thereon, a paper stack from which sheets are transferred by the suction means to the impression cylinder, three color cylinders of the same size as the impression cylinder and driven thereby, and disposed with their i. mechanisms around the impression cylinder, a main frame in which said one color cylinder is mounted oiicenter of and above the impression cylinder, an auxiliar frame pivoted to the main frame and in which the other two cylinders are mounted at the side of the impression cylinder opposite to said paper stack, means to strip the printed sheets from the impression cylinder, and means to drive the impression cylinder and to actuate the suction means.

3. A multicolor printing press, comprising a main frame, a paper stack thereon, an impression cylinder having internal suction means and gripping means to pick up and retain sheets from a standstill position at the paper stack, three color cylinders of the same size and their inking mechanism disposed around said impression cylinder and intergeared with it, one of said cylinders being mounted in the main frame off-center of and above the impression cylinder, an auxiliary frame pivoted at its lower end to said main frame and in which the two other cylinders are mounted at the side of the impression cylinder opposite to the paper stack, and a stripper to remove sheets from said impression cylinder.

ARTHJR S. l-IUCKINS.

REFERENCES CITED iThe following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,075,575 Johnson Oct. 14, 1913 1,775,677 Huckins Sept. 16, 1930 1,949,432 Osborn Mar. 6, 1934 2,158,701 Jirousek May 16, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 465,012 France Apr. 6, 1914 786,722 France Sept. 9, 1Q35 

